The Flustered WIndowsill

By Caroline Leland

Caroline Leland has written The Flustered Windowsill novella for the young reader.
It is a small adventure in the everyday world with a young girl heroine, Ellie, on a visit to Humpback Island in Casco Bay, Maine, with her Aunt Sophy for the Christmas Holiday. Ellie makes new friends and partakes in an unusual event that enlightens her young life.
This is the fourth book in a series about Ellie and her Aunt. The first three books in the series are: The Cantankerous Bed and The Blue Heron; The Expectant Chair; and The Determined Sofa; and each has won a Purple Dragonfly Book award from the Story Monsters LLC.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Caroline Leland
• Release date: Nov 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005000486

Caroline Leland

Caroline is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has written three children's books about the adventures of young Ellie and her Aunt Sophy. Each book has a mystery. All three books, The Cantankerous Bed, The Expectant Chair, and the Determined Sofa have won a Purple Dragonfly Award sponsored by the children's magazine, Story Monsters Inc.. The third book, The Determined Sofa, has just been published and takes place in London, England. All three books can be purchased on www.Amazon.com. Caroline is currently writing romance/mysteries taking place in coastal Maine.

Book preview

The Flustered Windowsill

A Novella

by Caroline Leland

© 2020 by Caroline Leland

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced, reprinted, recorded, performed, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without explicit permission of Caroline Leland. All such actions are strictly prohibited under law.

Book cover watercolor by Nicoll Cadwalader Brinley

This book is dedicated to the dear friends who support my writing endeavors.

Thank you.

Other Books by Caroline Leland

The Cantankerous Bed and The Blue Heron:

A Novella and A Story

The Expectant Chair: A Novella

The Determined Sofa: A Novella

Contents

1. Arrival

2. Settling In

3. Christmas Trees

4. Pets

5. Christmas Eve Day

6. Christmas

1

Arrival

Ellie looked ahead with wonder from their perch at the front of the Casco Bay Mailboat. She and her Aunt Sophy, watched as the large land mass, Humpback Island, came closer and closer on the horizon. Densely packed evergreen trees, rocky beaches, and houses scattered here and there on the snow-covered hilly landscape, crept more clearly into view as they drew nearer. She could just see the Atlantic Ocean glittering and shimmering in the gap between their destination and the next nearest island in the Bay. Casco Bay was full of beautiful islands beckoning the passerby to stop for a visit as they headed out to sea or toured around the Bay in their boats. Having started this excursion from the Ferry Landing in Portland, Maine, earlier that morning, the Casco Bay Mailboat had a while to go before reaching the Humpback Island dock.

Ellie huddled closer to her Aunt Sophy on the chilly boat deck on this December day just a few days before Christmas. She felt the engine thrumming under her feet. Looking to the rear of the boat, Ellie saw the small waves the boat left behind on either side when it cut through the dark blue waters. A brisk, cold wind snatched at her clothing while it danced around them and she pulled her woolen hat further over her ears. Eight-year-old Ellie, on the short side, with flyaway brown straight hair, was on her way to spend Christmas with her Aunt at a house on this Island. Her Aunt Sophy and her father, brother and sister, had inherited the house together from a cousin who had recently passed away.

Aunt Sophy, a plump and pleasing person, had covered her own brown straight hair with a huge fur hat with ear flaps. Ellie thought she looked like a great North Pole explorer. Both she and Ellie had on thick winter outer wear to combat the icy blasts. She said to Ellie, in a loud voice so she could be heard over the sounds of the wind and the chugging engine, This is so exciting. I could ride this boat all day, although it is very cold out.

Me too, Ellie exclaimed.

We’re getting closer so let’s get our bags, shall we? Aunt Sophy said. Ellie followed Aunt Sophy down metal stairs to the inside passenger area on the Ferry. Only a few adults were also on this trip and they were huddled by the radiators. Aunt Sophy and Ellie picked up their bags they had left on a bench and went to the front of the boat so they could watch it pull in and tie up at the dock. They would be the first to visit this cousin’s house and Humpback Island. They would have the joy of looking over the house and getting it ready and decorated for the guests coming for Christmas. The guests were some friends of Aunt Sophy’s who Ellie had met on previous visits with her Aunt.

Ellie’s parents were in Sweden helping out an elderly Aunt of her mothers. They were going to bring Great Aunt Polly back to live with them in Pennsylvania. Aunt Polly’s ill health had hurried them over to Sweden during the holiday season. They had wanted to come to the Island to see the new family house and to celebrate Christmas with Ellie and Aunt Sophy there. Ellie sighed to herself over a Christmas without her parents. However, she knew her Aunt Sophy would give her lots to do and lots of love. She felt lucky in having such an Aunt. Soon she would have a Great Aunt to love as well. That was certainly a Christmas present to look forward to.

The Ferry pulled in slowly to the sturdy wooden dock reaching out into the Bay. Ellie watched as the ropes were tied and the ramp was pushed across the gap between dock and boat for the passengers to cross. A few people were standing on the dock watching the ferry arrive. Some pickup trucks and cars were parked on the landing area above the dock. Several small buildings and houses hugged either side of the road on the hill coming down to the landing and dock. And now it was time to leave the boat. Ellie couldn’t wait to set foot on a real island.

Hello. Are you Sophy and Ellie Rice by any chance? a middle-aged man asked moving out of the little crowd waiting by the ramp. He had a boy and girl tagging along behind him.

Yes. That’s us. Are you Mark Hopewell? asked Aunt Sophy.

Sure am. These two are my grandchildren, Sara and Billy. Say hello kids.

Sara bobbed her head shyly while